RTX 4090 Vs RX 6900 XT: Worth Upgrading In 2023?

The exchange of blows continues between NVIDIA and AMD, but you know there is no winner in this fight. They each have their own strengths, and they continue to dominate each other from time to time. There is no doubt that NVIDIA has had the upper hand for the past few years, but the recent 6900 series from AMD has definitely upped the ante for an interesting NVIDIA RTX 4090 vs AMD RX 6900 XT duel.

Before getting into the tiniest details of this comparison, it is important to mention that AMD RX 6900 XT has been around for 2 years now, whereas NVIDIA RTX 4090 just launched in the 4^th quarter of 2022. It clearly shows the latter is going to have some advantages over the former.

Key Takeaways

• AMD RX 6900 has been around for more than 2 years, whereas NVIDIA RTX 4090 is still a very recent launch, so the performance differences are understandable.
• NVIDIA RTX 4090 is a performance beast for sure, but the boost it gives over its predecessors is pale in comparison to the ‘price boost’ it’s received by being priced at $1600.
• DLSS 3 can boost frame rate performance by using AI and machine learning technology to fill in the missing frames based on contextual learning.
• The GDDR6x RAM on NVIDIA RTX 4090 is more power-efficient, but since it can handle more load per second, it ends up using more power.

RTX 4090 Vs RX 6900 XT Specs Comparison Table

While discussing the two graphics cards, you can’t ignore the fact that AMD’s best is still two years older and was cheaper by $600 when it launched. More importantly, you could now get the same card even cheaper in the market, as many deals are available from different retailers.

It wouldn’t have been such a big difference in the logic that the processors can handle at any given moment if both used 6nm and 7nm technologies for the processors. However, the difference comes from the fact that NVIDIA is using the newer and more power-efficient 5nm technology compared to the 7nm on AMD’s RX 6900 XT.

The difference is night and day when you look at the number of transistors these two graphics cards are sporting. Also, the sheer size of NVIDIA’s beast is formidable for any competitor, let alone AMD. The card is 1ft long, and if you weren’t thinking long-term when you bought your previous case, you might have to change it to a new one to fit this absolute unit.

Of course, AMD’s RX 6900 RT is not a small graphics card, and it will take up to 10.5 inches in your case. Now, when you compare the performance of both cards side by side, you will have a clear winner, and it will be NVIDIA RTX 4090. However, you don’t have to dismiss AMD so quickly here. The comparison you are reading here is for your guidance, even though you could call it arguably unfair.

When you have two cards with one having the upper hand in just about every single spec category, you know it’s going to outperform the other one in terms of its gaming performance too. Keep in mind the one with better specs is from NVIDIA, i.e., the biggest and most well-known graphics card maker in the world.

Let’s get into the core of their features and compare them side by side.

Price and Value

As discussed above, the first thing that should get your attention is the price of the card. Yes, NVIDIA’s card is better on paper when you look at the specs, but it’s also more expensive. What’s more important is the price-to-value measure. Are you getting as much value as the price you are paying for this card? Since 6900 XT is already 2 years old, you can now get your hands on deals that have the card ranging from $600 to $700.

That’s not the case with RTX 4090, which is still priced pretty high and will remain that way since it has just come out. If you have that amount of money to spare, you can take pride in the fact that the overall boost in performance you will get with RTX 4090 over RX 6900 will be consistently more than 100%.

GPU and Core Performance

Let’s talk about CUDA cores first that point to the core performance of your graphics cards in terms of how many tasks they can handle at a time. Based just on the number of cores alone, you can tell that NVIDIA is way ahead of its long-time opponent. NVIDIA’s card has more than 16000 GPU cores, whereas RX 6900 XT has fewer than half of that at just a little over 5000 cores.

How does that affect your gaming experience? Well, ray tracing is the new term you should familiarize yourself with to know the importance of cores. The main function of ray tracing is to give you optimal lighting conditions in the game while mimicking real-world lighting conditions within the smallest unit of time. Your GPU needs a lot of horsepower to perform that task in real-time. The huge difference in core numbers is evident in the performance of the cards, wherein NVIDIA’s unit takes care of lighting much more efficiently than AMD’s.

RAM Type and Performance

Next, let’s discuss the Ram type and performance of NVIDIA RTX 4090 vs AMD RX 6900. This is where you start to see the difference that comes with time. You have GDDR6 RAM on RX4900 XT, which is not bad at all, but RTX 4090 has the latest and most efficient GDDR6x onboard. Now, there is a paradox for you to wrap your head around here. GDDR6x is more efficient than GDDR6 in terms of power consumption. However, when used while gaming, the former will end up consuming more power than GDDR6.

That’s due to the fact that it offers you nearly 45% faster transfer rates, allowing the RAM to handle more tasks in a given time period. As a result, it consumes more power but also gives you better and faster results. To be precise, you can expect transfer rates of up to 21Gbps, but there’s a caveat to it. Do you really need that much power when the standards haven’t been updated in software and other hardware components to match with GDDR6x?

It is at this point you realize why RX 6900 XT isn’t such a bad purchase after all. It makes sense to any user who wants to get more bang for their buck. RX 6900 doesn’t offer you the latest, but it surely offers you what works and what you need.

Power Draw and Efficiency

The recommended power on the board from both companies is 850W. A simple rule you should know here is that the better performance a card delivers, the more power-hungry it proves to be at the end of the day. You will later discover in the gaming benchmarks that RTX 4090 is using more power in just about every benchmark.

The maximum power that this card can end up using is 450 watts. On the other hand, 300 watts is the maximum power consumption you can expect from RX 6900. You should, however, know that the maximum power draw will only occur when you are playing the latest and most graphics-intensive game at the highest settings possible. Despite using more power, RTX 4090 does maintain a reasonable GPU temperature.

AI-powered Frame Generation

In this area, you can clearly see that RTX 4090 is leagues ahead of RX 6900 XT. It is also the point where you must not forget that the latter is an older technology from 2020, whereas the former was just launched. The DLSS 3 technology from NVIDIA is designed to improve the frame rate while playing games with the use of AI.

By using contextual information from the previous frames, DLSS 3 can insert more frames within the gaps to boost the frame rate. Has this technology been successful? Yes, it has startled many testers with the final outputs. At the time when AMD launched RX 6900, they didn’t have any answer for this tech from NVIDIA.

However, AMD’s response to DLSS 3 has been in the form of FSR 2.0 (FidelityFX Super Resolution), which is a different technology serving the same purpose of boosting frame rates in games in real-time. Sad to say, but AMD will have some catching up to do as its technology doesn’t harness the power of machine learning at the moment. The point in favor of AMD is that since its FSR 2.0 doesn’t use AI, it will be compatible with and provide a frame rate boost to computers with older graphics cards.

NVIDIA RTX 4090 Vs AMD RX 6900: 1080p Gaming Benchmarks

The two graphics cards can work well for the games available today and many that will come in the future. It has become clear with tests and benchmarks that RTX 4090 performs a little too well in 4K gaming, but it only makes sense to compare the performance of both cards in 1080p because a lot of gamers are still sticking to this resolution. In many cases, they are okay with playing around with graphics settings and bringing down a few elements to have a smooth gaming experience.

The rig used to test the two cards couldn’t be more justified and fair. It wouldn’t be fair to install an AMD card on an Intel board or an NVIDIA card on a board that’s optimized for AMD cards. As a result, the rig chosen for both cards is compatible specifically with their architectures, and thus none has any advantage over the other than their built-in features.

The following NVIDIA RTX 4090 vs. AMD RX 6900 XT benchmarks are from Bang4BuckPC Gamer.

PC Specification For AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3D
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus X570 Elite
• GPU: XFX MERC 319 Speedster Black RX 6900 XT
• CPU Cooler: EK Quantum Velocity Block Magicool 750ML Reservoir and Pump, 280mm XSPC Radiator
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4 4400Mhz Patriot Viper Steel
• Storage 1: TeamGroup L5 3D Lite 480GB
• Storage 2: Samsung 480GB 850 EVO
• Monitor: Samsung “55” Q6FN QLED

PC Specification For NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

• Processor: Intel i9 12900K 5.3GHz All P.Cores 1GHz All E.Cores 4.3GHz Ring Bus (Cache)
• CPU Cooler: EK-WB Velocity 2 RGB Alder Lake Water block
• Motherboard: MSI MEG Z690 Unify
• GPU: MSI RTX 4090 Suprim X
• RAM:Skill Trident Z5 RGB 6400Mhz DDR5 32GB 16×2 CL32-38-38-60 1.40v
• Storage 1: Samsung 980 Pro 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD
• Storage 2: Samsung 860 QVO 1 TB
• Storage 3: Pioneer 1TB SSD APS-SL3-1T

You can see that the rig is pretty well balanced other than the RAM difference. However, when you look at the RAM usage difference between the two cards, you will realize that this difference doesn’t affect the final outcome that much. The processor for the AMD 6900 was also optimized for gaming performance. So, the rig was no slouch on either card’s side.

It is safe to say that if you are looking for powerful gaming performance and you side with AMD, this is probably the best processor you could get for the test. Let’s dive into the gaming benchmarks of NVIDIA RTX 4090 vs AMD RX 6900. 

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider

Comparing the performance of the two cards side by side in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it is evident that RTX 4090 is a clear winner in many ways. First of all, the frame rates and frame time are many times better on NVIDIA RTX 4090. It does not mean that AMD RX 6900 XT is any weaker. The frames per second being produced by this card are still better than most of the graphics cards on the market.

One of the impressive things in the test is how cool the RTX 4090 is compared to RX 6900. The GPU temperature difference revealed which card was better. The GPU temperature remained at 39 degrees Celsius on 4090, whereas it was as high as 54-degree Celsius with AMD. The load on the CPU in both cases wasn’t that high. However, it was good to see that both cards were using their specs to the max, with 97% and 91% usage on AMD and NVIDIA, respectively.

The power draw difference was also clear, but it wasn’t that huge. RTX maintains a power draw of 345, which is within limits stated on NVIDIA’s website. The extra cores inside RTX 4090 are definitely working hard because the CPU usage goes as low as 22% at times.

The average FPS with RTX 4090 was 351 in this test, whereas the FPS for RX 6900 XT was 258, which was enough to announce the winner of this head-to-head battle. Again, the performance from AMD was not bad at all, considering that it is a technology 2 years older than that NVIDIA 4090.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

The first thing you have to know about this game is that it is optimized for AMD graphics cards. What it means is that the performance of this game should be a bit improved for the AMD RX 6900 XT compared to the performance of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. While it can’t beat RTX 4090, the difference in FPS, power consumption, and other factors should definitely be a bit more competitive.

The settings in the game have been set to ultra-high, and the resolution settings are still at 1080p. Right off the bat, the CPU usage with NVIDIA RTX 4090 was pretty low yet again. While you would label it as a CPU bottleneck in most situations, that wasn’t the case here. The factor contributing to such low CPU usage was that the games were being played at 1080, whereas NVIDIA’s latest card has been designed for much heavier graphics. You will surely know that when you look at its 4K gaming benchmarks coming later.

The CPU temperatures were quite low on both sides, so measuring them didn’t matter. However, the biggest difference in the performance of both cards while playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was the power consumption. Even though AMD’s GPU power draw is at 232W compared to NVIDIA’s 262W, the GPU temperature differences are still quite huge. NVIDIA is quite cool at 37 degrees, whereas AMD’s temperatures have risen to 51 degrees.

The FPS average is 228 for team green, whereas it’s 172 for team red. The 1% and 0.1% Lows showed a great difference between the performance of the two cards. More than 99% of the time, the frame rate for NVIDIA was above 178 FPS, whereas it was 130 FPS for AMD Radeon. The reading on the Lowest 0.1% with AMD was 92 FPS compared to 149 FPS for NVIDIA.

Horizon Zero Dawn

You have yet another AMD-optimized game in our NVIDIA RTX 4090 vs AMD RX 6900 guide, and it is only fair to say that picking these games compensates for the difference in RAM types and sizes used for testing the graphics cards. The results of this test were quite interesting and different from those in the previous games. The FPS rating on both sides wasn’t as hugely different as it was for other games. That’s quite astonishing, considering the performance of NVIDIA RTX 4090 in most games.

You could also argue that this game was designed in a way that didn’t make it too friendly with NVIDIA. It seemed as though NVIDIA RTX 4090 wasn’t utilizing its power in loading the graphics of this game as it was with previous ones. The CPU usage went up quite a lot, and the load on the card was reduced to only 51%. Perhaps, this was the reason for the low FPS average on RTX 4090. Since the card wasn’t using all of its resources, it was quite expected to see the GPU temperature not going up too high.

However, the more interesting part was the power draw in this case, which went up for AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT at 275W, whereas it remained lower for its counterpart at just 235W. AMD continued to be the efficient card of the two here by drawing only 86.5W from the CPU compared to NVIDIA’s 127.7W.

Forza Horizon 5

When it’s a car racing game, you know it puts a lot of pressure on the cores in terms of quick graphics generation. For some reason, RX 6900 XT continued to use 100% of its resources, whereas NVIDIA RTX 4090 remained in the range of 60% and 70% on the GPU usage meter. The GPU power draw was another interesting part of this test.

AMD definitely came head-to-head with NVIDIA in terms of average FPS, but it also took a toll on the temperature of the card, which spiked up pretty fast. While NVIDIA RTX 4090 is the power-hungry option of the two, the GPU power draw in this test was consistently leveled or, at times, higher for AMD’s card. The difference in CPU power draw wasn’t huge, either. NVIDIA was drawing 85W power from the CPU, whereas the power draw reading for AMD was 67W. 

NVIDIA RTX 4090 Vs AMD RX 6900: 4K Gaming Benchmarks

It’s time to test the two cards for what most gamers crave. Every gamer wishes to or is at least curious to play their favourite games in 4K resolution. Such a treat for the eyes remains elusive for so many, but these two cards can definitely make it possible for you to play your favorite racing, FPS, and RPG games in 4K. The following 4K gaming benchmarks have been taken from Hardware for Gamers. 

Here is the rig being used for this test.

• CPU: Ryzen 9 5900X 5TH GEN 12c/24t
• GPU: RX 6900 XT 16GB
• GPU: RTX 4090 24GB
• CPU Cooler: AIO Enermax Liqmax III ARGB
• RAM: Crucial RAM 16 GB (2×8) Dual Channel 4800 Mhz CL 40
• Hard Disk: Samsung SSD 970 Evo
• Motherboard: MSI X570 A Pro Gaming
• Power Supply: Gigabyte P850GM 850W
• Case: Inter-tech C 701 Panorama ATX, Tempered Gl
• Case Fans: Miwatt RGB Series
• Monitor: Samsung U28E590 4K

In this test, you should note that the chosen processor favored AMD, but more importantly, both cards were tested on the same specifications. Another thing to note is that the tests were conducted multiple times to reach a credible average.

Depending on the rig you are using, the specifications and the makes of your computer’s components, the performance of the same graphics cards can be different for you on your PC.

PUBG

The first thing to come out of this test was that NVIDIA RTX 4090 was continuously heated up, more than it was when tested for 1080 resolution. That’s due to the fact that it was now playing the games in 4K and thus had to handle more load every second. Does this elevated GPU temperate also reflect on the temperature of your primary CPU? That should not be the case because it’s going to cause more problems for you in the long run.

In the test, the difference between the performance of AMD RX 6900 and NVIDIA RTX 4090 was day and night. The FPS average on RTX 4090 was nearly 100% better than its rival. It’s not a bluff or some random performance boost. The per-second frame rate consistently remained in this range for both cards. Something that was slightly worrying was the sudden drops in frame rates that happened at irregular intervals.

While the 1% Low for RTX 4090 was at 87, it was still quite low compared to the overall performance of the card in the game. However, things weren’t any better on team red’s side as its 1% Low was at 60. On average, NVIDIA was able to maintain 196 frames per second, whereas the same average for AMD was 95.

The power draw difference was huge in the test, with NVIDIA drawing 387W of power from the system, whereas RX 6900 maintained it consistently at 256W. In this particular scenario, you could call AMD’s side more power-efficient. Things didn’t seem good for NVIDIA on the temperature side either, with GPU and CPU temperatures lurking close to 65 degrees Celsius and 70 degrees Celsius. The temperatures on the GPU and CPU for AMD RX 6900 were pretty much in the same range.

Now, it’s up to you to decide which one you want. Are you more about graphics cards that don’t heat up your system and reduce its life, or someone who wants impeccable gaming graphics no matter what the costs involved are?

Forza Horizon 5

This game should give you a better understanding of the difference in the performance of these two cards. They were both tested in 1080p resolution as well, but with a different PC configuration. However, on this occasion, the processor was definitely siding with team AMD. Before you look at the results, know that DLSS and RTX were on during this particular test, which means maximum pressure on NVIDIA RTX 4090.

While NVIDIA’s performance was impressive in terms of its FPS average, it’s still a point of concern to see the 0.1% Lows and 1% Lows being this low. It clearly shows that heat does take a toll on RTX 4090’s performance. Yet again, if you are willing to ignore that, you definitely get 68% more performance from NVIDIA in the FPS race. An important thing to note here is the clocking of the two processors. It was amazing to see how much further NVIDIA stretched in terms of over-clocking to give an immersive gaming experience.

Its processor clocked at 2760 MHz, whereas RX 6900 XT was consistently maintaining a clock speed of 2370 MHz, which was probably the maximum it could do. Interestingly, AMD took a bigger toll on the CPU, and its temperature went as high as 66 degrees Celsius, but NVIDIA wasn’t far behind with 63 degrees Celsius on CPU temperature reading. The usage of the CPU is also a concern here. Is AMD Ryzen 9 5900X not a good pick for gaming because a meager 12% usage when paired with AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT could be a sign of a CPU bottleneck?

Spider-Man Remastered

If you like playing Spider-Man, you will probably make up your mind after this NVIDIA RTX 4090 vs AMD RX 6900 comparison. It seems Spider-Man and AMD Radeon doesn’t like each other since 49 FPS average was below par and something more gamers will be disappointed with. What’s even more startling is the fact that the minimum FPS rating with RX 6900 went down to 7 in this test.

This test might also spring up a huge debate between the AMD and NVIDIA fans. FSR and DLSS options are kind of the bragging rights of these cards. The fact is, whenever you mention DLSS as one of the strengths of NVIDIA’s latest graphics cards, the counter-argument from the red team is usually a mention of FSR. In other words, FSR is AMD’s way of competing with NVIDIA’s DLSS feature. However, despite both cards using their strengths, things seemed quite bleak for RX 6900 in this benchmark test.

The GPU and CPU temperatures were almost the same on both cards, so that was not a point of concern. Both cards were also using their maximum CPU clocking speeds. As expected, NVIDIA’s RTX 4090 pulled in 80W more power to give such a stellar performance and an FPS boost of 133% over AMD’s RX 6900. Even the 1% Low of 88 wasn’t that bad for NVIDIA because its FPS average during the test was 116.

The only saving grace for the red side here was that the game was not optimized for AMD. However, that’s the weakest excuse one could give to defend their favourite graphics card. The performance doesn’t significantly improve for RX 6900 on AMD-optimized games, either.

Cyberpunk 2077

NVIDIA’s performance in rendering this game’s graphics has to be the highlight of its RTX 4090 graphics card. The statistics that have consistently come from other reviewers when they tested Cyberpunk 2077 on RTX 4090 are mindboggling. Let’s see if their astonishment is truly real or just a way of hyping people to buy another NVIDIA graphics card.

Now, the numbers weren’t huge here, but the interesting part was that a graphics card of AMD RX 6900’s caliber was only so good at handling this game that it’s average FPS never went too high from 43. RTX 4090 maintained an average FPS of 77 in this game. That was a frames-per-second boost of more than 77% here. It reached its maximum clocking speed, but the GPU’s temperature remained at 64 degrees Celsius. Why is that interesting?

Well, despite putting up a rather disappointing performance, AMD RX 6900 continued to heat up with its GPU temperatures strolling in the whereabouts of 68 degrees Celsius. The DLSS argument couldn’t hold ground here because it was off in this particular scenario. In another test done by a reviewer, the same game with Ray Tracing on got more than 150% more performance boost compared to NVIDIA’s previous graphics cards.

Grand Theft Auto V

GTA V might not be the most graphically demanding game in 2022, but it can surely test the best graphics cards out there. Experts consider it one of the best games in terms of optimization. For this reason, it can run on even lower-end graphics cards with some tweaking of the settings. The performance of NVIDIA RTX 4090 vs AMD RX 6900 wasn’t the best while playing GTA V.

Yet again, the DLSS settings were off in this test. There should be no doubt in your mind that turning on DLSS can be controversial these days because the developers and engineers on team red don’t have the best technological answer to this feature yet. You could use a lot of reasoning, but it is true that AMD will have to get back to the drawing board, adapt to the latest technological advancements, and come up with something that does use AI and machine learning to better the gaming graphics.

At the moment, the constant avoidance of AI technology doesn’t make much sense. Coming back to the test, there were some usual culprits there, such as the power consumption of the GPU. In this test, NVIDIA was consistently drawing in 100W more to give 79% boosted graphics performance. However, this higher usage of power wasn’t taking a toll on GPU’s core temperature, which stayed close to the 65-degrees Celsius range. The CPU temperature was also pretty even between the two cards. The big difference was yet again in the frames per second produced by both cards. Of course, that’s the first setting most gamers are concerned with anyway.

The average FPS reading with RX 6900 XT was 56 FPS in this test, whereas an FPS of 100 sealed the solid performance of RTX 4090. The per-second production of frames never dropped too low from this point. Thus, the overall gaming performance was consistent. Since the temperatures didn’t go too high, it could mean gamers could continue to play Grand Theft Auto V for hours without worrying about a drop in the graphics card’s performance.

Which One Should You Buy?

After going through the benchmarks of NVIDIA RTX 4090 vs AMD RX 6900 and comparing the two cards side by side, you have to make up your mind about which one you would like to go for. It’s true that different people have different requirements, so which one you pick should be based on your personal preferences.

However, you can clearly define certain parameters and base your decision on them when deciding between these two cards.

• If cost isn’t a big problem for you, and you are a sucker for those frame rates while playing games, you should definitely give RTX 4090 a shot.
• If you prefer value over price and aren’t crazy about 4K gaming as of yet, there is nothing wrong with picking AMD RX 6900 XT.

This is how simple it can be to decide between the two. It needs to be mentioned here that you could buy RX 6900 for less than half the price of RTX 4090 now. It might not give you the best performance in all the games, but it will definitely make every game that’s available on the market today playable.